Helen H. Tobolski:1975,Notre Dame Campus, South Bend, IN.

   

  Mrs. Helen Tobolski always came to work early.  She was allowed to clock in early and get a little overtime each week.  She was working hard to earn a living as a cleaning lady at The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. It was March of 1975. 

  If you want a glimpse of what Notre Dame was like in 1975, watch the movie “Rudy”.  It is set during those years.  Rudy Reuttinger graduated in the class of 1976. 

  Mrs. Tobolski was in the Aerospace Building that morning. She was shot in the head at very close range by an assailant.  Why?

   Perhaps she interrupted someone planning to steal something from the building? That is what investigators thought at the time. Would a petty crook shoot a woman because she saw him in the Aerospace building? Maybe.  It’s the 1970’s and all bets are off where crime is concerned. Was it espionage? Not according to Notre Dame officials. They put out a statement that no classified work was being done on their campus in the Aerospace Building. 

   I wondered if Thomas R. Lippert had anything to do with this. The answer to my question was no. Lippert was already in custody on that date for kidnapping Susan Wells Cochran from Purdue University. 

   Who was Lippert? Why would he have anything to do with a murdered cleaning lady at Notre Dame? Was he some random guy who wandered on campus? No, He was a professor at Notre Dame. He was arrested a few days earlier in Minnesota for the kidnapping of Susan Cochran when FBI agents tracked him down. She was returned back to Indiana on a Purdue University airplane. Lippert was taken into custody. So, he wasn’t on the Notre Dame Campus on March 22nd when Helen Tobolski was murdered. He bonded out to await trial a few days after Mrs. Helen Tobolski was murdered. 

    If not Lippert, then who? Were fingerprints found? (That would be incredibly difficult since so many individuals went in and out of this building on a daily basis.) 

   Was there a pattern of break ins happening in the area? Had there been any recent thefts on campus? Was there a pattern of someone entering buildings that they weren’t authorized to be in? (Other than Rudy from the movie…pretty sure he had on campus housing by 1975 since he graduated in 1976.) 

   What was going on in the surrounding area in terms of crime? Northern Indiana certainly had its share of criminal activity then. I’ll have to do more research to get a clearer picture. 

  Helen H. Tobolski was born on the 22nd of May in 1912. Her maiden name was Gawronski. She married John Tobolski and they had a daughter named Marilyn in 1940.  John Tobolski passed away in 1962. Marilyn Tobolski Hilberth lived in Houston with her family in 1975.  But, Helen cheerfully kept working, going in early for overtime, and getting by. She was 62 and likely looking forward to retiring in a few years. 

   She should have retired in 1978 or so.  She should have enjoyed those retirement years.  But she didn’t get to do that.  Helen Tobolski deserves Justice. 

   Helen was buried at the St. Joseph Cemetery in South Bend next to her husband. 

    Someone knows what happened.  Maybe you overheard something back then.  Maybe you know the killer and felt loyal once but you no longer feel that loyalty. Your tip could help solve a murder. 

    If you know anything about the murder of Helen H. Tobolski at the Notre Dame Aerospace building in March of 1975, please call the South Bend Police Department at 574-235-9201.